Fire Burning Low
by imagine forevermore
Summary: She was exhausted. Jyn didn't now how she could still be standing after all of the pain in her life, but here she was.


**A/N: I saw Rogue One last night and I had to write something for it. I don't own Lucasfilms or anything. If I did none of the characters would ever died.**

Tiredness swept over Jyn, but there was nothing she could do. At the young age of eight, the girl was already more weary than most twice her age. Her beautiful safe haven was crumbling into a mess of the past. Her beloved family was broken beyond repair by death and the Empire. Jyn was lost in thought and spirit.

In the muddy hole beneath the rocky mountain, Jyn could finally let all of the emotions overwhelm her.

Salty tears streaked down the youngest Erso's rosy cheeks, as the memories of her mother dying and her father surrendering swirled around her mind. _Why?_ It was a rhetorical question, for the only one aware of her thought was herself. It felt better to question the previous moments, than admit they were real and unchangeable. _Maybe I could've saved them. Maybe it's all my fault,_ wondered Jyn.

Fingers tight around her crystal necklace, Jyn hoped with all of her might that this was all a nightmare, but the pain of the cord cutting into the nape of her neck didn't awake her from reality.

Moments passed and the eight year old drifted in and out of restless sleep. She was too young to be this scared. This disheartened. This hopeless. But Jyn had abandoned the carefree feelings of childhood that spring day.

Feet grinding in the pebble strewn soil alerted Jyn to a person drawing near to her damp hiding place. Fear knotted in her stomach. At that moment the girl decided she would die with a fight, with pistols firing, blood churning, and fists flying. As long as there was life in her veins, Jyn would fight for her freedom and family. Nobody would die on her watch ever again, not if this scrawny child lite girl could help it.

* * *

Silently, the sixteen year old perched on the abandoned, creaking spaceship's control panel. Holding back a yawn, Jyn traced the edge of her necklace's shiny pendant, muttering to herself about how her father wouldn't do this to her.

Her friend, Saw Guerra and his militant gang had a hunt that the cyborg man felt would be best for teenager to abstain from. Hands and jaw clenched, Jyn had fought to stay with the group, even though the only member that liked her was Saw.

One of Jyn's worst ideas was that they wouldn't come back for her. What if they didn't come back for her. Saw reassured her that he would be back by dawn, but he hadn't met her gaze when she finally agreed.

Her currant position was an old ship that the group used as a normal rendezvous point. It was more of an assortment of rusty beams and scraps than a spaceship.

Only minutes had past since the troop left, but the youth soldier was as taut as a wire, ready to shoot her gun. "Finally I can relax, I guess," softly spoke the brunette to the deserted ship. The only response was the window whistling through the ship's remains. Despite that exclamation, Jyn remained in a stiff position awaiting the first rays of light.

Dusky twilight light tinged the burnt bluffs that Jyn could see from her spot in the cockpit. Morning was what felt like an eternity away.

A yawn escaped her raw lips, bitten and sore from the constant sunlight. Jyn Eros could use the rest, not just one peaceful, uninterrupted night's sleep, but the rest for a body that had been pushed to its emotional and physical capacity over and over again.

Slowly darkness overwhelmed Jyn and her sleep heavy head hit her shoulder abruptly. Startled Jyn snapped her head up, whipping out her loaded pistol around. The shadows of overlooking cliffs and the metal beams leaning tiredly awaited her nervous eyes.

A whisper of wind through the canyons scattered Jyn's hair, all of her muscles tensing to strike with accuracy. Suddenly, the rusty ship's hull felt like a prison, ready to collapse upon the sixteen year old in any moment.

 _It'll be alright,_ Jyn part chided, part reminded herself. _Just the wind, or maybe even their coming back already._

This idea softened the young lady, and she decided to stretch out on the sand covered metal floor. Quickly the ease faded from the moment, but the militant girl stilled herself as shadows covered her completely.

Doubts crept and wound in and out of Jyn's sleep, as did the occasional moment where she woke up with sweat covering her brow and neck. Finally a bit of light from the system's sun, awoke the sleeper with a start.

Moaning, Jyn worked a crick out of her neck. _Why did I fall asleep on the floor?_ Not having an answer, Jyn realized that her not super friendly crew would be outside of the ship either at this moment or rather soon. Gleefully, the teen popped up, checking this way and that for a tapping finger or a gun sticking out from behind the loose wall. The only living being was her disappointed self. The few leftover metals wouldn't be able to hide a muscular group with weapons and supplies.

 _Just taking them a bit longer than expected,_ internally Jyn said, but worries were bursting from the seams of her worn clothes.

Stomach grumbling eagerly, the Erso packed her slim bag with the things that her mentor had given her the night before and stepped to where the doorstep of the ship would be. A dash of white caught her chestnut eyes, where an offending piece of paper stuck beneath a stone. Edges of the paper fluttered slightly, but Jyn didn't notice for her gut had dropped to her feet.

Fingers trembling, carefully the sixteen year old flipped over the compact rock, snatching the coarse slip of paper between the tips of her finger. Biting her lip, the lonesome traveler read:

 _Jyn,_

 _It's time for us to part ways. May the force be with you,_

 _Saw Guerra_

The words slammed into Jyn with the weight similar to the butt of a gun across the face.

A tear welled into her eyes, as trust shattered across the desert floor.

 _No! This isn't my fault that Saw left me in the middle of nowhere,_ spat Jyn, ferociously wrinkling the paper and throwing it across the ground. Adrenaline soared through her veins, plucking the sack, feet plodding towards the nearest town. Hot tears ran ragged across her face to Jyn's dismay. She hated the weakness of crying.

Sixteen years old with the weight of her life on her fingers. No longer innocent little Jyn Erso, the teen was growing to expect to be the only one that she could count on.

* * *

Heavy raindrops dripped through her frizzy tresses, soaking her to the bone. Fingers wrapping over a slick steel bar, Jyn pulled herself up, teeth gritted. The steady patter of rain drummed on like a heartbeat, but the only thing in the now adult of twenty three year's mind was the goal of getting to her father.

He was on a platform just moments above her slippery position. _I can see him again. Keep climbing. Almost there,_ the mantra repeated itself steadily in her mind raising Jyn Erso's spirits.

Shivering, a particularly chill drop slipped down the bridge of her sharp nose, hanging of the very edge in the most bothersome way possible. _Ignore it. Papa is only steps away. He will call me Stardust and we can be a family again._

Muscles contracting _,_ the rebel slipped onto the platform, sneaking towards her technician of a father. Darting around wide crates, her father was in the center of a group. Jyn desperately wanted to yell for her father, but she waited, so as not to attract attention.

Second after second passed, and she stood only steps away from where her dear papa keeled in pain.

Screaming colors broke her vision and heat rushed into her face with a blast. Darkness rimmed the edge of her vision, pain stabbing the side of her head. Empty black space engulfed her at last.

 _Where am I? I though I was with Papa?_ Jyn wearily opened her eyelids, which suddenly felt weighed a thousand pounds. Throbbing slaps of pain echoed from where her head leaned against the wet metal. _Papa._

That single thought pushed Jyn into her normal mind set- fighting mode. Battling the wish to just curl up and nap, Jyn glanced about for the dark blue suit that noted the man as her father.

"Father!" shouted Jyn at last, the rain plastering her curls to the sides of her face. "Papa!"

At last her brown eyes caught onto a body wrapped in navy cloth- motionless.

"Papa!" Again Jyn called, feet slapping the surface, water splashing this way and that. She just wanted to be with her family once more.

There he was in her arms. Her papa smiled at her. Her- the rebellious fighter. Her- his Stardust. All of a sudden she was back in the warm light of her childhood home, as the family parted ways for the last time.

Before Jyn could memorize, savor, factor away the moment, Galen Erso became eerily still. His head stopped holding itself up, and eased backward on Jyn's thin fingers.

In reflection, Jyn couldn't remember what she said or every exact word he said. Jyn remembered the bleeding colors for the blast, the sober sadness, the wrenching pain.

She remembers that her papa called her Stardust. Galen Erso had recognised her, and held her close.

 _I can't do this anymore. I've had enough,_ Jyn decided with conviction in her bones, and sorrow on her heart. A tight fist dragged her from her father into the next moment and the next.

* * *

Shaking legs and glistening eyes, Jyn carried a damaged Cassian Andor to the beach side. In the corner of her vision, she could have sworn that her friends bodies lay bleeding on the ground. Ignoring the rising pain over the deaths, Jyn sat her gaze toward the lapping shore.

It was beautiful in comparison to the towering trees splashed with deep maroon blood. In comparison to the broken bodies littering the spongy sand. The sun made the water glitter and the beach looked inviting for a nap. There were less deaths on the short grasses leading to the pure, golden sand.

Clouds of dust exploded at the edge of the horizon, and the sand beneath her boots shuddered. The Death Star struck again. There was no way out. All of the escape options were cut short. All of the possibilities gone.

Jyn wasn't ready to die. The last remaining Erso didn't feel an overwhelming peace, but instead she felt all determination flood out of her.

 _This day was coming, but now I have friends,_ argued Jyn with her eminent, and permanent, end. Before this moment she had wanted to constantly fight, but now... Now that Jyn had a purpose, friends, a goal... It didn't seem such a bad way to die with the closest friend she ever had leaning on her, but Jyn still wanted to live. All of the life was draining out of her, and the women didn't have any strength to defend or save herself.

Collapsing at the very edge, where the pristine beaches met the water, Cassian whispered something.

"Your father would be proud of you."

Jyn clung to those words, as she hugged her friend. The howling winds and energy was closing in upon the embracing rebels.

Fear rose through her throat. _Will it hurt?_ Jyn pondered as the approaching dust smacked her tear filled tears.

Finally, Jyn released all of the tiredness that built up over the years.

* * *

It was strange. Jyn knew she was dead. She hadn't ever pondered what was after the grave, but apparently it was pale clouds and shifting bodies outside of her line of sight. Surprisingly, all of the weariness was off of Jyn's shoulders. What was more unexpected was who was emerging from the warm mist.

First her mother appeared, all of the lines time had etched into her face were gone. Next Jyn's dear papa came near, then all of her friends paraded in as well, including Cassian who wore an astonished look as well.

It was done.


End file.
